Nutrition & Santé is Europe’s leading maker of organic and health foods. Biscuits roll off its production lines in stacks of 4 or 5 units that are then wrapped in packs and inserted in their cardboard packaging at high speed.

Timex is America's leading watchmaker and is present in more than 80 countries. Fralsen, its French entity, makes watch movements and used contact sensors and conventional comparators and was looking for a way to improve their inspection process.

By using KEYENCE’s LJ-G sensor, the Automotive Equipment Manufacturer has automated its inspection of airbag deployment slits in vehicle dashboards. This resulted in stable measurements and a fast return on investment.

The Problem: The automated tray loader will
occasionally load a tray improperly on the conveyor track. This
misloaded tray eventually crashes the production line creating
downtime, machine damage and potential danger for operators.

The Problem: The operators switch between jobs to
keep fresh, however some components are not always placed onto the
assemblies. This can create several scenarios. The first is that
the assembly damages parts within the automation equipment.

The Problem: Gauging was performed using hand
gauges, contact-type gauges, or some other less accurate indirect
methods. Having no standard developed practice, workers at the
plant were not taking reliable measurements.

The Problem: Each medical cartridge in the nest
must contain only one bead of blood. What was happening is the
cartridge would get by with no bead in it or more than one. All of
these beads are forced down a tube by air.

The Problem: The customer runs a continuous web of material through their printing presses and would like to run uninterrupted for a full 24 hours per day of manufacturing time. Ideally, the only downtime they expect is a manual change of rolled material when the previous roll is exhausted.

The Problem: It was determined that there were two
major problems with the current method of measurement.
- First, the measurements being done by hand were very
inconsistent. The material being measured was not rigid, and thus
the measurements varied as the amount of force applied to the
micrometer by the operators changed.
- Second, the process problems that caused the thickness variation
occurred very quickly, and the current “spot checking”
method uncovered the problem often times too late. Thousands of
dollars worth of “out of spec” material had been
produced, only to be scrapped.

The Problem: During assembly, if the diaphragm is not seated in the right place, the two halves will not seal properly creating a defective product. One half with a smaller diameter fits inside a larger one with the gasket acting as a cushion in between. During seating, a diaphragm can become “pinched” during the process sometimes creating tears and/or not allowing for the necessary tight seal required by the part.

The Problem: Stand-alone style terminals have
touch screen panels that act as the interface between the customer
and the machine. They needed a way to alert the Kiosk when a
customer approached the machine. This would enable the machine to
“shut down” during periods of inactivity. This shutdown
would have numerous cost savings through the life of the machine.

The Problem: The customer could not stop the line
due to the sintering process or the time needed to cure in the
oven. Due to the time interval in between the measurements,
sometimes good product had to be thrown out along with the bad,
costing production time and money. Calipers could potentially
damage the product and the readings were inconsistent from shift to
shift.